Modify elevation data

[GoogleCodeExporter]

For development proposals it is often necessary to perform excavation of a
site before a new model can be placed.

With the high res elevation data further refinements become even more
desirable in order to properly model viaducts, bridges, river banks etc.

Google Earth needs a mechanism to modify elevation data. This need can be
divided into two areas:

1 - Temporary elevation changes for development proposals
2 - Permanent elevation changes which are corrections

Elevation data must be defined as absolute so that future updates will not
upset custom elevation data.

Several solutions could be considered:

1 - Elevation data provided with Sketchup Model
When you create a model for Google Earth you already receive a partial
elevation model. This model should have a higher resolution by default and
the user can modify the elevation profile to suit their needs. An absolute
elevation datum must be provided with the model.

Elevation data for models accepted for Google Earth will be merged with the
elevation data for Google Earth

2 - Elevation data exclusion zones
If it were possible to define an area where the earth is absolutely flat at
sealevel  then a Sketchup model could include the ground mesh to fill in
this area. The down-side to this is that that area would report an
incorrect elevation of 0. Also you would need to introduce a Google Earth
material in Sketchup to ensure the latest imagery is applied to the mesh
(Currently a problem for 3D models)

3 - Elevation data corrections
In some 3D applications it is possible to modify terrain using various
brush tools. Trainz is a typical example. Many users around the world would
be more than keen to further detail the Google Earth elevation data and
submit these corrections for approval. An automated process could look at
the submissions and allow corrections within certain limits depending on
the quality of the data that was present already.

4 - Extract elevation data from road data.
Since we know that roads are close to level across its surface, we also
know road width and elevation. It would be super cool to process this data
and apply corrections to the elevation data accordingly. It would make
every road in Google earth clearly identifiable and presented perfectly.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by vandint...@gmail.com on 28 May 2010 at 12:30

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I have a similar request

http://code.google.com/p/earth-api-samples/issues/detail?id=524

found your post after a bit more searching for similar feature requests

Original comment by Berwyn.M...@gmail.com on 24 Aug 2010 at 9:12

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Issue 524 has been merged into this issue.

Original comment by bcke...@google.com on 23 Feb 2011 at 1:27

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Original comment by bcke...@google.com on 1 Mar 2011 at 2:59

• Changed state: Acknowledged